Old games cruelly exposed by a shoddy conversion to DS. [Apr 2010, p.64]

It'll take more than invisible crates to win us over. [Nov 2009, p.65]

Still a substantial package - especially on the online-starved Wii - but messy with it. Try GoldenEye instead - it was built for Wii and is all the better for it.

Lumpen stuff partially saved by nifty duelling sections. [Aug 2007, p.70]

Online play is another welcome addition. [Feb 2010, p.73]

Bit of a one-trick pony, but it's still a neat idea, well executed. [May 2010, p.73]

Sideways grip may well be more like proper tennis, but it's not comfy. Lefties aren't welcome. [Aug 2008, p.58]

Get this if you're tired of the same old boring shooting - every bullet counts. [Sept 2011, p.76]

If buying toys was fun in itself we'd give kids the Argos catalogue to play with. [Aug 2010, p.69]

Not particularly flamboyant, but thoroughly entertaining. Forget those block puzzle relics on Virtual Console and give the new blood a go. [Dec 2008, p.74]

The real downer is the price, which is ludicrously sky-high for something so simple. [Feb 2010, p.73]

Very edutaining for the under-eights. [Dec 2007, p.70]

It's hobbled by a poor frame rate and spectacularly horrible visuals. [Christmas 2011, p.76]

Solving puzzles suits the bear-hurling format. It's a shame about the terrible motion controls though. [Aug 2010, p.76]

Pointy, clicky, and not terribly good. [Apr 2008, p.72]

Kingdoms is still playable, but after the delights of the two Puzzle Quests, this is a real letdown. [Nov 2009, p.72]

A novel creation tool, which should give rise to any number of inspired (read: terrifying) creations. [Christmas 2011, p.80]

Kirby's first outing puts the Wii game to shame - pity it's so crushed onscreen. [Christmas 2011, p.81]

That old Samba magic is still there, but the challenge is in beating the controls, not the game. This should have been way better, given the console's strengths. [Nov 2008, p.56]

Neither bad nor ugly, but reasonably good. [Nov 2008, p.73]

A silhouette of an almost great game. [Apr 2010, p.60]

We'd struggle to recommend it. [Feb 2010, p.74]

This is brimming over with smart and snazzy ideas, but it fails to deliver simple gameplay thrills. [Sept 2007, p.62]

The combat's fun but a bit repetitive. [Christmas 2010, p.74]

There's not much that surprises you. [Mar 2010, p.74]

It's not great. [May 2011, p.48]

Wi-Fi makes an ideal way for serious layers to practise for forthcoming events. [Mar 2007, p.81]

What could have been a great celebration of a truly odd universe is scuppered by a lack of effort. [Dec 2009, p.56]

A lovably scrappy puzzle game that's brimming with ideas but hampered by clumsy execution. [June 2010, p.56]

Newcomers should steer clear. [Oct 2008, p.77]

There's a surprising amount of depth to the combat, which only makes the sluggish movement and decision to use an isometric view more maddening. [Mar 2007, p.81]

The whole thing feels quite cheap. [Winter 2009, p.70]

Competent. [July 2010, p.71]

In English it reveals a lack of depth and some seriously irritating niggles. A real shame. [June 2007, p.50]

It's no longer a game for the hardcore, that much is for certain, but what audience is this aimed at? We're not sure who's going to get full value from Step & Roll.

A smart, worthwhile puzzler. [May 2011, p.75]

You'll get your money's worth if you put in the hours, but some would say that life's too short. [Dec 2008, p.73]

Does little to stand out, but is deep and rewarding once you get the hang of it. [Nov 2011, p.76]

Throwaway but very funny, which seems reasonable for a measly 200 points. [May 2010, p.74]

Lots of places to go but not much to do when you get there. [Sept 2007, p.42]

Both a decent brain-tickler and a remarkably swift argument-starter. [Aug 2008, p.72]

Everything's got that cute MySims sheen but it feels hollow. [June 2009, p.75]

Monkey Ball has grown flabby and gutless. A real shame. [Apr 2011, p.52]

It's baseball designed for a pad and buttons rather than a motion controller. [Oct 2007, p.67]

Not a great game. Not really even a good game. But a very funny game. [June 2009, p.69]

Unusual, fun and insane. [Mar 2009, p.73]

What's here does work up a good sweat. [June 2012, p.101]

Classic puzzling, but essential only for die-hard fans or genre newbies without a PC. [Feb 2011, p.74]

It's good fun and something different. [May 2009, p.76]

Just what the doctor ordered - if he ordered brainy but slightly disappointing puzzle action. [Feb 2011, p.75]

It's a perfect game for young children learning how to use the Wii, but outside of that, even the most die-hard platformer enthusiast may have a hard time sticking with it till the end. [Feb 2007, p.69]

Don't expect to put the pedal to the medal and this is harmless Disney-fied racing. [January 2007, p.56]

It's ridiculous, but it's executed so garishly, and revels in its own absurdity with such confidence, that you can forgive it for being the shallow nonsense that it is. [Apr 2010, p.76]

A short, sharp blast of pricey fun, like being shot in the head with a riot gun. [July 2010, p.76]

The relaxing way to shoot things. [Aug 2008, p.74]

A really bad showcase for MotionPlus, inexplicably packaged with a technology it doesn't understand. [Issue#56, p.48]

Memorable, though perhaps not essential, playing. [Mar 2010, p.75]

Appalling voice acting makes this feel very shoddy, though with the sound turned down it's a passable 'entry level' point 'n' clicker if you can find it cheap. [July 2009, p.77]

We can't dismiss it entirely because it does have a nice-looking bonus update of classic Bomberman. But the adventure mode is seriouly poor. Think twice, bomberfans.

There are some okay ideas here, just not 101 of them. [Feb 2009, p.76]

Totally hollow. [Sept 2009, p.73]

Boogie has its moments, but the game lacks fluidity, the karaoke lacks cool tracks and the rhythm sometimes just lacks, full stop. [Oct 2007, p.62]

Full marks for ingenuity but it is not the impressive in action. [Christmas 2007, p.61]

Mario Party has never dazzled but this is the dullest it's ever been. [Aug 2007, p.48]

This is by no means the car crash of a game that Ubisoft's withholding led us to expect; it's more of a severe car scrape against a bollard. [June 2007, p.42]

It's nicely made, just rather dull. [Oct 2010, p.64]

There's novelty value here for fans of the show but anyone else will find this as limp as, well, House's limp. [Jan 2011, p.69]

Spongebob doesn't have the personality to pull it all together. [Oct 2011, p.71]

A good game spoiled quite badly by rough presentation and grainy graphics - not what you want when the whole thing is based on visual puzzles. [Feb 2008, p.63]

ANY sense of achievement would be nice. [Feb 2008, p.70]

Basic, derivative, monotonous; but dressed up with some stylish visuals and the odd good bit, TMNT is impossible to entirely dislike, but equally impossible to recommend. [June 2007, p.57]

There's some gratuitous (And not very effective) use of the DSi camera, but that can't elevate this above puzzling mediocrity. [Issue#56, p.71]

Difficulty spikes are the last straw, leaving this as a good idea gone distinctly mediocre. [June 2007, p.70]

It's certainly not bad, but it lacks the strategy of Pullblox and the panic of Mario's Flip Switch Galaxies. [Feb 2012, p.106]

We know from other versions that this is a solid arcade racer, with fun modifying modes and slick visuals. On Wii it's a nightmare to control. For masochists only. [January 2007, p.45]

The main problem with Spore Hero Arena isn't that the detail of your creature is lost in a haze of pixels, but that the whole game is rather dull. [Winter 2009, p.70]

Despite a selection of new courses and modes, this feels dated. The tournament mode is enjoyable, but with no multiplayer you'll struggle to have a reely good time.

You can do a spot of car modding as well, but the options are pretty limited. [July 2009, p.77]

An imbalanced "Gradius"-style powerup system makes getting multiballs and sticky bats far too easy, so you'll find you attention wandering as you clatter unchallenged through one bland brick wass after another. [Aug 2006, p.67]

An acquired taste, and definitely not for impatient gamers. [Nov 2009, p.69]

Pokepark is largely unchanged since the last time we visited. there are a few new attractions, but the same camera and control annoyances. That said, it's still a very hard game to hate. [Jan 2012, p.107]

It's just like singing along to the DVD rather than proper karaoke. [Christmas 2010, p.71]

An expensive and entirely cosmetic companion to the DS games. [Jan 2008, p.50]

It just doesn't have the required spark. Disappointing. [Nov 2009, p.66]

If you're not already a magic buff, and you're under 13, this will easily entertain you. [Feb 2008, p.64]

Flacid combat. [Dec 2011, p.66]

Not really innovative, but at least the range of uninspired minigames is broad. A bit like having to pump up a tyre using a weasel. [Mar 2007, p.70]

Fairly unexceptional. [Aug 2006, p.67]

Don't expect anything taxing but there's just enough content to make this a worthwhile multiplayer title for the younger gamer. [Aug 2008, p.62]

Fans may see past the clumsy structuring, but from a gamer's perspective this is slightly too flawed to pick up for throwaway fun. [Christmas 2007, p.62]

The aiming is too imprecise to be less than an irritation and the different game modes are too similar to each other to be interesting. [Feb 2007, p.82]

Sometimes you enter a rabbit hole and all you find is dirt, worms and rabbit droppings. [Apr 2010, p.63]

A loveless port of a timeworn platformer, which lacks any artistic or creative reason to exist. Do we even need to tell you to wait for Mario 3DS?

Thumbs up for the two-player co-operative system that's perfect for mum or dad and the kids. [Aug 2006, p.66]

Riveting stuff, no? No. And neither is this DS game. [Jan 2008, p.65]

Contains both ghosts and busting, but neither is as fun as it should be, despite good intentions. A chore to play through. Boo. [Sept 2009, p.68]

Save your wrists and steer clear of this in favour of "Guitar Hero." [Jan 2009, p.65]

It should be WiiWare. [June 2011, p.64]